Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 526 - The Forbidden Black Medical Art

Translator: Thyaeria

It’s a Daoist theory for five elements to give birth and subdue each other.

Since the Medical Dao Sect came into medicine through Dao, the Imperial Five Elements Acupuncture Technique was exceptionally resounding. However, it had a high requirement, and only a few people have managed to learn them.

Even the oldest disciple of the Medical Dao Sect’s Sect Master, Wang Guofeng, couldn’t use this acupuncture technique.

The principles of the Imperial Five Elements Acupuncture Technique lie in the birth of energies between the five viscera.

But there’s a high risk. Not only would the five visceras give birth to each other, but they would also subdue each other. The moment there’s a mistake, then it would cause a mess in the five elements and Kohei Koizumi’s death.

Then again, Ling Yu had a sturdy foundation, and his acupuncture techniques were brilliant, leaving the observing Su Tao stunned.

For someone at Su Tao’s level, it’s not easy for him to feel admiration for someone.

He never expected that someone even younger than him would have such brilliant medical skills.

Ling Yu’s talent was definitely not inferior to his own!

At the same time, Su Tao was also happy that he’s not alone on this journey. It turned out that he had a companion that was together with him on this path.

Because of Ling Yu’s treatment of Kohei Koizumi, Su Tao gained a deeper comprehension of the five elements in TCM. It turned out that there’s such a brilliant acupuncture technique that could create a bridge between the five visceras.

Since Kohei Koizumi’s five visceras were failing and his meridians were clogged, Ling Yu was practically using his acupuncture technique to forge bridges across Kohei Koizumi’s meridians by applying the principles of the five elements and reduce the exhaustion of the five visceras.

Putting it in a nutshell, Ling Yu was using the Imperial Five Elements Acupuncture Technique as a foundation to create an array with his Rising Dawn Qi.

Using this array, it would reduce Kohei Koizumi’s exhaustion to extend his lifespan. So as long as Kohei Koizumi’s five visceras were still functioning, he could rely on this array to forcefully preserve his life.

It was practically a revival technique, and Ling Yu could already be considered Yama’s enemy.

“He will regain consciousness in an hour!”

After Kohei Koizumi fell asleep, Ling Yu retreated with a pale complexion. He used 90% of his Rising Dawn Qi earlier, resulting in his severe exhaustion.

When Asaka Ochi took her husband’s pulse, she was shocked by her discovery and she exclaimed, “His pulse is more stable and gentle than before!”

Nodding his head, Ling Yu humbly explained, “But this is only temporary! I used the Imperial Five Elements Acupuncture Technique to stimulate his five visceras to provide energy to each other and reduce his exhaustion. In this manner, the failure of his five visceras will slow down, but it is ultimately not a permanent solution. Roughly half a year from now, his five visceras will deteriorate to a certain degree and collapse. Putting it in a nutshell, what I did earlier was change the oil of a tattered vehicle and tighten the screws. Although it can still function, it will ultimately collapse since it’s too heavily damaged.”

“Even so, I have to thank you for your help!” Asaka Ochi praised.

Glancing at Su Tao, Helian Zhen asked, “Are you going to continue with the treatment after the patient regains his consciousness?”

Not only was acupuncture exhausting to the physician, but it was also draining to the patient. Then again, the exhaustion was practically negligible compared to western medicine treatments.

Nodding his head, Su Tao answered, “I will be using a different method from Ling Yu that might perhaps supplement each other!”

“Then, we’ll wait for him to regain his consciousness?” Helian Zhen suggested.

After the medical apparatuses were once more placed on Kohei Koizumi, the data shown was more stable than before, proving that Ling Yu’s treatment was effective.

At the same time, Ling Yu’s speculation was also accurate, Kohei Koizumi regained consciousness soon after. When he opened his eyes, he was clearly more energetic than before.

“I feel very comfortable!” Kohei Koizumi let out a breath and continued, “It has been a long time since I felt so comfortable!”

“Another acupuncture treatment will be conducted on you later. Can you take it?” Asaka Ochi immediately asked.

“Of course!” Kohei Koizumi gently smiled. “My current state is much better than before!”

Letting out a sigh in relief, Asaka Ochi turned to Su Tao and gave a sincere bow. “Then, I will be troubling you!”

In traditional TCM practice, there’s a Yin-Yang Nine Needles Acupuncture Technique that’s meant to control both Yin and Yang to treat each other.

However, Su Tao would be using the Chaotic Yin-Yang Acupuncture Technique, which was completely different from the Yin-Yang Nine Needles Acupuncture Technique.

In the Imperial Physician Scripture’s Witchcraft Section, it was documented that if someone wanted to achieve longevity, the crucial point lies in controlling the body’s metabolism. That also meant controlling Yin and Yang to trade-off.

If you could maintain having no damage to the body for a long time, you would be able to retain your youthfulness and achieve longevity.

Taoism emphasised fasting, while Buddhism emphasised eating lightly.

In the end, it was to reduce the food intake to slow down the damage to the five viscera.

It’s like a single-lens reflex camera. The shutter could be used twenty thousand times, but if it’s all used at once, the camera would be ruined. So to extend the single-lens reflex camera’s lifespan, you could only reduce the number of times that you’re pressing on the shutter with no other alternative.

The Chaotic Yin-Yang Acupuncture Technique was mentioned in the Imperial Physician Scripture’s Witchcraft Section of surreptitiously substitute one thing for another, using this technique to slow down the organs and Yin-Yang exhaustion.

Then again, there’s also a limit, since it could only be used on malignant and cervical carcinoma with cachexia conditions.

Although Kohei Koizumi’s five visceras have shown up with the Hidden Abnormal Pulse that would stop anytime, he did not lose the Yang in his body.

On the contrary, the Yang energy in his body was vigorous, but it was only moved away from his five viscera.

The Yang energy was all contained in the cancerous cells that were spreading in his body, resulting in the exhaustion of his vitality.

From TCM’s Yin and Yang theory, the reason why Kohei Koizumi’s five visceras lost the Yang energy and showed signs of exhaustion was because the energy was all absorbed by his cancerous cells.

Thus, the Chaotic Yin-Yang Acupuncture Technique was to shift the Yang energy produced by the cancerous cells into the five visceras and use acupuncture to clear up the blockage in his meridians. In this manner, it would disrupt the Yin and Yang in his body and be rebalanced.

Compared to the Imperial Five Elements Acupuncture Technique, the Chaotic Yin-Yang Acupuncture Technique was more unbelievable, since it would use the vitality of cancerous cells to replenish Kohei Koizumi’s life. This alone was unimaginable, and it could be acclaimed as the work of gods.

At the same time, it’s also something that could only be accomplished by Su Tao, who was well versed in the Imperial Physician Scripture and equipped with the Heavenseizing Hands.

But truth be told, for Su Tao to treat Kohei Koizumi was practically the same as going against the heavens and was known as a forbidden technique in ancient times. So even if it was recorded in the Imperial Physician Scripture, it wasn’t often used by imperial physicians. Even Su Tao never tried this acupuncture technique before.

To be born, to grow old, and to die was the cycle of life, and using medical skills to change this rule, forcefully, was akin to going against the heavens.

Thus, there’s a warning in the Imperial Physician Scripture that it cannot be used unless absolutely necessary, since it’s a forbidden black medical art.

Compared to the Imperial Five Elements Acupuncture Technique that complied with the natural order, Chaotic Yin-Yang Acupuncture Technique was one that went against the law of nature. But this was also the only method that Su Tao had to extend Kohei Koizumi’s lifespan.

Since Su Tao wasn’t absolutely certain of the effect, he was extremely cautious at this moment and paid attention to any changes in Kohei Koizumi’s body. He would immediately stop if anything happened.

Furthermore, Su Tao also felt unprecedented stress since Kohei Koizumi’s life had been extended to half a year after Ling Yu’s treatment. So if he made a mistake that caused Kohei Koizumi’s health to fail, not only would it mean that he lost to Ling Yu, but it also meant that he lost the qualification to be a National Healer. Most importantly, the blow that he would suffer was unimaginable.

As needles were inserted into his skin, Kohei Koizumi felt an unusual sensation. All the achings in his body had instantly disappeared, turning into a chilling sensation.

Compared to Ling Yu’s acupuncture, which felt warmth, Su Tao’s acupuncture was the opposite.

It felt as if his body had suddenly been lightened after burning.

There were many reflex regions in the body, but Kohei Koizumi’s were blunt, since lymph nodes covered the entire body. Thus, with the cancerous cells being spread throughout his body, he could no longer feel much stimulation from the outside world.

He did not know that this was an evident sensation that Su Tao was using the Chaotic Yin-Yang Acupuncture Technique to change his body’s situation.

Aside from Ling Yu, no one knew how exhausted Su Tao was.

Su Tao felt like walking by the edge of a cliff, where he would fall if anything went wrong.

At this moment, his clothes were already drenched in sweat, but he still remained extremely focused.

Using his Fine and Detail Realm to examine Kohei Koizumi’s body, it felt as if he could see those vigorous cancerous cells multiplying. At the same time, he extracted the Yang energy born from those cancerous cells and shifted them to Kohei Koizumi’s exhausted five viscera.

The Heavenseizing Hands exhibited shocking efficiency as Su Tao’s Qi swiftly spread out upon entering Kohei Koizumi’s body to extract the Yang energy from the latter’s cancerous cells before shifting them to the five visceras.

The subtleness was indescribable to the point that it cannot be described with words.

Su Tao treated many patients, and he had already reached the highest realm in his acupuncture. However, he was extremely cautious in every step at this moment.

When the acupuncture needle was inserted to the final acupoint, Su Tao let out a breath in relief before he slowly removed the needles on Kohei Koizumi.

Every single time he removed one of the needles, Kohei Koizumi would let out a groan. But it wasn’t because he was in pain, it was because it felt comfortable.

When he removed the last needle, Su Tao felt extremely exhausted and his sight turned black as he fell backward.

Ling Yu swiftly reacted and immediately went up to hold onto Su Tao to prevent him from falling.

Even Helian Zhen was startled by this scene and asked out in concern, “Is he fine?”

Taking Su Tao’s pulse, Ling Yu replied with a solemn tone, “The aura in his body is in a mess right now, and I’m afraid he has to rest for a bit!”

“The third round will start later in the afternoon, so won’t it affect him to be in this state?” Helian Zhen sighed with his brows locked.

“It’s nothing!” Ling Yu replied as he continued, “I’ll help him with a massage later to restore his energy. He will be able to participate in the third round later!”